Not too long ago, the conventional statement,”he who knows it would rain and refuses to get an umbrella is a fool” was reiterated in my hearing. The statement was not only heard through the aid of loud giant public address system but was made so dramatic that I was kicked into solitude for a couple of hours. The enchanting voice that uttered the above mentioned statement was Prof. Vincent Anigbogu, a Nigerian (Igbo), Director General International at Institute for National Transformation which has centres in Atlanta, Nairobi (Kenya), Kampala (Uganda) and Lagos (Nigeria). He is an iconic teacher of chemistry who has been in practice in the United States of America for more than 20 years. A very brilliant man (emphasis please),lol. My dear, for another rear moment in my life, I saw a professor who is really prophesying.

It was on 26th March, 2016, about a few minutes past 7 o’clock in the evening. The event was at Km 22 Lekki Epe Express way, Ajah, Lagos Nigeria. A friend of mine invited me for a program that was organised by Dominion City which is titled, “Global Trends”. Truth be told, I am not a fan of prayer crusade or its likes where multitudes of people gather and engage in lengthy “prayer wars” for the purpose of casting and binding the devil. I don’t criticise it, who am I to do that. Quiet moments with my creator are just what work for me. I attend such gathering specifically for the strategic teachings which I think would interest me. When this particular invitation came, I was arrested by the title and when the actual day came for the topic to be discussed, it was an obligation on me to be there. Sincerely speaking, I don’t regret seating in that gigantic tent on that solemn evening. Aside the teaching that took me there, the setting of the event was mastery. See, “churches get money die, aswear!” No wonder everybody wants to have a church. Chill, don’t misquote me, lol.

On that eventful evening, Professor Vincent, a renowned international speaker was on stage to take the topic on global trends. That was the first time I saw him live. Within the space of some seconds, his teaching became burning fire in the heart of so many people there. He was spitting fire like a dragon from a particular document which is the core motive for this piece. The document was published since 2008 and it was an embarrassment on me that I became aware of it in 2016, that is, 8 years after publication. I was really furious at such protracted level of ignorance. The document was published by the United States of America National Intelligence Council. The title is; Global Trends 2025: A Transformed Word. Professor Vincent’s teaching on it was articulate, succinct and concisely dissected that all was fascinated excitedly. But beneath the beauty of the teaching was aroused the surge of pity for our dear country. The revelation from the document shows that Africa, not only Nigeria is like a time bomb waiting to explode if proper caution is not taken. Thank God they called it a prediction but the chance of it occurring is most certain if neglected. After the teaching, just like every other academic, profess gave us an assignment on the document, amongst other books he recommended and I really made Google my friend. My dear, these are the summary of my research work. My major concern here is about the Nigerian youths, those who do not know about this most certain prediction. If you think you have known it since 2008 or rather before now, the question for you is what have you done or doing about it?

The National Intelligence Council (NIC) is the centre for midterm and long term strategic thinking within the United States intelligence community (IC). It was formed in 1979 according to its official website. The NIC’s goal is to provide policymakers with the best information, unvarnished, unbiased and without regard to whether the analytic judgment conform to current U.S. policy. It is drawn from government, academia and the private sector and are the intelligent community’s sector experts on a range of regional and functional issues. In 2008, the council prepared Global Trends 2025: A Transformed Word “to stimulate strategic thinking about the future by identifying key trends, the factors that drive them, where they seem to be headed, and how they might interact. It uses scenarios to illustrate some of the many ways in which the drivers examined in the study (e.g., globalization, demography, the rise of new powers, the decay of international institutions, climate change, and the geopolitics of energy) may interact to generate challenges and opportunities for future decision makers. The study as a whole is more a description of the factors likely to shape events than a prediction of what will actually happen.” Among the messages they hope to convey are: “If you like where events seem to be headed, you may want to take timely action to preserve their positive trajectory. If you do not like where they appear to be going, you will have to develop and implement policies to change their trajectory.”

I would try as much as possible to be brief and point out the issues as they relate to our dear country but bear with me if you find it lengthy. The 120 pages document took my time but it’s really worth the attention.

The document revealed that in terms of size, speed, and directional flow, the transfer of global wealth and economic power would roughly move from West to East and is without precedent in modern history. Do you know the countries in picture? Brazil, Russia, India and China (the BRICs). The things these nations share in common with our dear country, Nigeria are oil, agriculture and population (I will come back to these) etc but we are not even in picture for any economical growth for the next 15 to 20 years. The BRICs seem to take huge advantage of these situations and what are we doing about ours? Growth projections for Brazil, Russia, India, and China (the BRICs) indicate they will collectively match the original G-7’s share of global GDP by 2040-2050. China is poised to have more impact on the world over the next 20 years than any other country. If current trends persist, by 2025 China will have the world’s second largest economy and will be a leading military power. Is it not obvious you should start leaning Chinese language? It is stated that a generation of globally competitive companies is emerging from the new powers, helping to further solidify their position in the global market place; from Brazil in agribusiness and offshore energy exploration; Russia in energy and metals; India in IT services, pharmaceuticals, and auto parts; and China in steel, home appliances, and telecommunications equipment. “Of the top 100 new global corporate leaders from the non-OECD world listed in a 2006 report from The Boston Consulting Group, 84 were headquartered in Brazil, Russia, China and India.” Fellow Nigerians, don’t we possess the above mentioned resources that are pushing the said countries to the global market. What have we done with ours? What impact have they made on us the citizens let alone the global economy? I am most convinced our leaders in their international outings must have gained knowledge of this issue since 2008 or even through the aid of Google, our friend.

Issus on population, Scarcity of Water, Food, and Climate Change: World population is projected to grow by about 1.2 billion between 2009 and 2025, from 6.8 billion to around 8 billion people. Demographers project that Asia and Africa will account for most of the population growth out to 2025 while less than 3 percent of the growth will occur in the “West” Europe, Japan, the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. In line with this, the United Nation has projected that Nigeria would be among the 4 most populated countries by 2050. Undoubtedly, the National Intelligent Council has projected that this population growth would add pressure on the globe. With problem of climate change also, they would all result in scarcity of water and food in the nearest future. The issue now is, what laid down plans are in place by our government to survive these “dooms day”? Or are they always interested in furnishing us with their relentless and unfulfilled promises? We are currently and consistently struggling with high rate of unemployment at this point, what would be the case should we not take measures before the night fall. Those who are currently employed are even crying of being underemployment. Have we channeled any effort towards agriculture or are we merely verbalizing it only on the media? Every day, I watch on television where farmers complain of waste in their agricultural products. This is as a result of little or no availability of preservative and storage mechanisms. What our minister is telling us is how they intend to stop the importation of pencil, toothpicks and matchboxes. Isn’t this funny?

As if government policies are not enough, I even discovered recently that those in the village are no longer interested in farming. Everyone goes for processed food, massive relocation to cities with no job placement in view. We all run after white collar job and aspire to put on suit even when the salary we earn from it can hardly feed our family. We all deceive ourselves with the nomenclature, “corporate job” without knowing that every job is corporate, it is just how you package yours. The most painful is that our village leaders are now in the business of selling both community and personal land to expatriates who have understood the dimensions at which the world is going, thereby buying up our land to establish their industries and before you know it, it would be a second colonial journey. A practical example to the best of my knowledge is Nike community in Enugu State. Every individual in that town is in the business of selling land. I was discussing with one the other day and I discovered that what they do with the money is to host parties and buy cars. What they don’t know is that a day might come when they would pay to use the roads they once owned. Sorry to be so dramatic but that is the truth. Be it known to you also that companies from Europe are buying up our seashores because of water scarcity that would hit them soon as a result of climate change and selfishly, our leaders are selling them off. If care is not taken, a time would come when we would all pay to drink water from that stream behind our backyards. Africa is at an advantage in this whole drama of climate change and should we make good policies and act wisely, we would feed the world in years to come.

Fellow youth, be it known to you now that all those advertisements about universities abroad and their difficult to resist scholarships is a strategy. It has been revealed that there would be a high rate of decline in youth population in Europe and the Western world between now and 2025 which means they would have more old people than young ones in the nearest future which would definitely affect their economic strength. They now engage in policies that would attract best minds amongst us who ultimately wound benefit from them and may remain there to empower them. Truth be told, how would you abandon someone who gave you the best of care, attention and amenities which your country never provided except in rear dramatic turn of event? Honestly, who wouldn’t take such opportunity where our beloved country has refused to offer them? Our universities decay by day with obsolete academic program. Take note that a time would come when some of the courses we celebrate today would drastically vanish on planet earth. I recently discovered that China is developing an educational program that would have students whom their course would be to think for the future of their country. Isn’t this fascinating? This is a country that Nigeria was richer than some decades ago. What a pity we currently ask them for loan. Can someone please tell me what went wrong?

Quoting from the document we are discussing: “The emergence of new economic tigers by 2025 could occur where youth bulges mature into “worker bulges.” Experts argue that this demographic bonus is most advantageous when the country provides an educated work force and a business friendly environment for investment… Unless employment conditions change dramatically, youth in weak states will continue to go elsewhere—externalizing volatility and violence… The populations of already parlous youth bulge states—such as Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo (DROC), Ethiopia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Yemen—are projected to remain on rapid-growth trajectories. Pakistan’s and Nigeria’s populations are each projected to grow by about 55 million people.” Reading this statement really sent huge shock down my spine. Our country records being one of the countries with the highest number of youths and we have little or no contribution in the governance of this great country. It was really a disappointment to hear from our dear vice president who stated in the past that they couldn’t find any youth that is capable of being made a minister. What a shameful statement from a law professor. Does it mean he couldn’t produce any good student throughout his years in the university? Bear with me sir if you find this statement insulting, I am just trying to state the obvious.

Finally, dear girlfriend, sister, wife and whatever names you might choose to answer…lol. Please take kind notice that it has been projected that the economic and political empowerment of women is said could transform the global landscape over the next 20 years. “Demographic data indicate a significant correlation between a higher level of female literacy and more robust GDP growth within a region (e.g., the Americas, Europe, and East Asia). Conversely, those regions with the lowest female literacy rates (southern and western Asia; the Arab world; and Sub-Saharan Africa) are the poorest in the world.” I am particular about this because most of our women are so obsessed with marriage. The highest point of their achievement is settling down with a man and over populating the world with children they sometimes fine difficult to provide with required basic needs. Our men are not also being helpful. Every young man with little or no amount of money in his pocket it desperately raising the issue of marriage as if it’s an achievement. I was stunned at the village last Christmas when I discovered that virtually all my age mates and those below already have children. Although I found that admirable, having my children run around me but is that all I can contribute to the society? There are more to achieve my dear in this combating difficulty than settling for marriage. Let’s be wise.

Conclusively, I took pain to compose this not for any other reason rather than my love for this country and the whole of Africa. The National Intelligence Council stated that African is the most vulnerable of all the impending difficulties that would subsequently hit the world. Rather than engage in propaganda, political war, embezzlement of national wealth, ethic marginalization, looting of public fund and selfish ideologies, let us maximize this prediction for the benefit of our dear country Nigeria. You mustn’t be a politician to do this. It is even painful that politics is now a career. You ask someone what is your profession and he would boldly tell you he is a politician, imagine! Why won’t they since its now sure way to make money through the destruction of the society. I believe in this country with my blood and know we would get to the top someday and forget the consistent reminder of the past days glory.

Yeah, please whoever that meets Professor Vincent Anigbogu should thank him for me. He is among my heroes currently. I really look forward to meeting him in person some day. I would always be in love with Dominion City. Although I am a devoted Catholic, they also contribute in keeping me in check in my communion with the heavenly father.

God bless Nigeria

Ugwuodo Edwin.

https://www.facebook.com/ugwuodo.edwin/posts/1151963464836882

Abeg summary nko

this is quite insightful, concise and wisdom imposing..... if only our youths will make a turn around and decide to take their rightful place in the scheme of events in our dear Nation. thanks for this ..... kudos brother

Prof is a true blessed man, been part of the team in many of his conferences, in fact, I am at one presently at orchid hotel in Lagos, as I type this, I am there live.

Thanks Edwin015 for taking time to post this.
I listened to a talk the professor gave recently on a different subject and it set me on a research part.

This post is 2 years old, but how many people a aware?

There's much work to be done.